Army denies financial mismanagement

The Indian Army on Tuesday refuted media reports that cited an internal Ministry of Defence audit to claim that Army chief General Bikram Singh, his predecessor, and other top generals wasted over Rs 100 crore of public money in two years.

Issuing a rebuttal, the army said that the reportage which raised questions on the expenditures and alleged violations of procurement between 2009 and 2011, was "inaccurate, unsubstantiated and speculative".

"It is pertinent to mention that all procurements from Army Commanders Special Financial Powers (ACSFP) are done through well laid out and time tested procedures.

"All procurements of items from 'Army Commanders Special Financial Powers' are vetted and concurred by Integrated Financial Advisors (IFA)," the army said in a media release yjayIt also asserted that the observations raised by the news channel NDTV have already been responded to Controller General of Defence Accounts (CGDA) and none of them were found to be true.

Earlier media reports said that Defence Minister A K Antony, taking a grim view of the profligacy, has come down hard and has ordered that spending of the commanders must now be cleared by the MoD.

Citing a purported internal audit, the reports said that not just has the money been wasted, but guidelines to buy foreign equipment have repeatedly been disregarded, and equipment rejected by one part of the Army has been bought by another.